Cats and Dogs

Sometimes dogs and cats get along, but only when they get to know each other at an early age. This fearless tom cat named Spike was friendly to my old hunting partner Valentine.

Dogs and cats were created to be different. Lola likes our two Siamese cats, but they hate her. She tries to play and all they want to do is run away or scratch her eyeballs out.

Lola thinks just about everything is her friend, but that doesn’t stop her from chasing it when he runs or retrieving it after its dead.

Here’s one that didn’t get away from Lola.

I’ve huned enough with Lola to know when something is up.

Last week we were hiking in familiar territory. We took a lesser-used ridge, with no trail, down a hill. It was only about 200 yards between trails, but as soon as we left the beaten path, Lola became animated. she put her nose to the ground and then jerked her head up as if expecting to see something, but nothing was there.

Not wanting her to get carried away, I gave her a soft comeon and she turned in the direction I was heading, but then she gained speed and before I knew it she was face to face with, and five yards from, a full-grown bobcat.

This cat was similar in size to the one Lola discovered.

The cat stood as tall as possible and Lola let out a sound that can only be described as hounddoggish. The cat tried to high-five Lola and they broke off. The cat jumped off a steep bank and my hollering stopped Lola from following.

For the rest of the hike, I could tell Lola was a bit off her game. I think she felt like a baseball player after taking a fat pitch. She’d liked to have had the opportunity over again.

No labs around this house.

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Friendly Bobcat

On the way home from the ranch yesterday, I came upon a bobcat that didn’t seem to mind me hanging around. I took quite a few photos. Here are a few of the best.

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Pond Repair at the Ranch

The key to life at the ranch is water. It comes in somewhat limited supply and anything we can do to improve water sources improves the habiat not only for livestock, but  for wildlife as well.

With 18 ponds over the 2,000 acres, we do have good water supplies, but over the years the ponds have suffered from a lack of maintainance. This year we decided to bring them up to speed. Obtaining permits from the state was a challenge, but we did manage to obtain permits to work on seven ponds that were not on “blue line” streams. Blue line means streams that have some year-round water.

Here’s an example of the work.

With a D6 Catapillar bulldozer, dirt was scrapped from the adjacent hillside to create a source of fill. The large breach in this dam took several hours to fill. After filling it, we laid timbers and block to create a cascade effect in the spillway. We’ll be going back to rock in the remaining dirt portion. We seed the scarp with native grass seeds and cover the area with rice straw or jute matting. Rice straw contains few, if any, seeds from plants that can survive in the hills. Therefore we hope we’ve not introduced any unwanted new species.

We had a biologist on hand throughout the period and his job was to inform the bulldozer driver and other laborers (us) about any possible “take” of endangered species. He did a good job. Species of the most concern were the California tiger salmander and the California red-legged frog. This pond was very dry and there was not sign of any of the aforementioned critters.

As cousin Wes and I drove to pick up some blocks to use in the spillway, we came across this bobcat and I snapped a photo as it looked back at us.

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A Bobcat Hunts

On my way home from putting up my tree stand, I spotted several predators out along the road. The first was a bobcat that ran full tilt away from my truck. A mile or so further down the road, a coyote looked back over his shoulder at me and then barreled full speed up the hill as I slowed to put my glasses on him. These predators knew the threat of humans.

When I came upon a third predator crouched in the shade of a sycamore tree about five hundred yards away, I stopped to see what it was. At first glance I thought it was a coyote watching a jackrabbit. However, upon closer observation it turned out to be a bobcat. The cat looked at my truck and then at the rabbit. Although far away, it was uncomfortable about my presence. I took a couple photos and drove off.

The road turned and crossed the creek and before long I was looking at the bobcat and jackrabbit from the opposite direction. It looked like a definite standoff.

Before long the rabbit departed and the cat turned its attention to something else – probably a squirrel.

I guess bobcats don’t have much to do besides sleep and hunt.

When I finally left the scene he was still hunting.

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